Why This Scientist Is Kicking Himself About A Pluto Revelation

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Photo: Pluto Blue Skies
A photo of Pluto's blue skies from New Horizons.

Blue skies and water ice. That’s what scientists see in recent photos from Pluto. New images and data arrive every day from the New Horizons Mission and the dwarf planet continues to surprise the people guiding the mission.

Alan Stern is the principal investigator at the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, and is at the head of the New Horizons Mission. He told us that some of the scientists are kicking themselves because they didn't consider the possibility that haze particles -- particles made from interaction of UV light from the sun and elements in Pluto's atmosphere -- could make the sky on Pluto appear blue.

As New Horizons makes it's way through the Kuiper Belt and into the Galaxy, Alan Stern spoke with Ryan Warner. Click the audio link above to hear the full interview.